Thought for the Day: The ‘Evil Empire’ 40 Years On

Today is the 40th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s famous “Evil Empire” speech that so outraged the Soviet Union and New York Times editorial writers and other “intellectuals” who took their cues from the Soviet Union. One reason Reagan was able to use that language was that, as a primarily domestic policy speech, the administration’s foreign policy establishment didn’t review it ahead of time and block that language, as they had with previous foreign policy speeches where Reagan’s speechwriters had hoped to use the line.

While the Soviet Evil Empire is gone, many of the other core messages of that speech are just as relevant today as they were then. Such as:

Obviously, much of this new political and social consensus I’ve talked about is based on a positive view of American history, one that takes pride in our country’s accomplishments and record. But we must never forget that no government schemes are going to perfect man. We know that living in this world means dealing with what philosophers would call the phenomenology of evil or, as theologians would put it, the doctrine of sin. . .

But whatever sad episodes exist in our past, any objective observer must hold a positive view of American history, a history that has been the story of hopes fulfilled and dreams made into reality. Especially in this century, America has kept alight the torch of freedom, but not just for ourselves, but for millions of others around the world. . .

It was C.S. Lewis who, in his unforgettable “Screwtape Letters,” wrote: “The greatest evil is not done now…in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is…not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result, but it is conceived and ordered; moved, seconded, carried and minuted in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”